Credit: The Associated Press

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, third right, Turkey's President Abdullah Gul, third left, and Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, second right, wait inside a train to cross the Bosporus after the inauguration of the tunnel called Marmaray in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. Turkey is for the first time connecting its European and Asian sides with a railway tunnel set to open Tuesday, completing a plan initially proposed by an Ottoman sultan about 150 years ago. The Marmaray, is among a number of large infrastructure projects under the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that have helped boost the economy but also have provoked a backlash of public protest.(AP Photo)

Credit: The Associated Press

Two Japanese technicians walk inside a train for the inauguration of the tunnel called Marmaray in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. Turkey is for the first time connecting its European and Asian sides with a railway tunnel set to open Tuesday, completing a plan initially proposed by an Ottoman sultan about 150 years ago. The Marmaray, is among a number of large infrastructure projects under the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that have helped boost the economy but also have provoked a backlash of public protest.(AP Photo)

Credit: The Associated Press

Two Japanese tecnicians wait inside a train for the inauguration of the tunnel called the Marmaray in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. Turkey is for the first time connecting its European and Asian sides with a railway tunnel set to open Tuesday, completing a plan initially proposed by an Ottoman sultan about 150 years ago. The Marmaray, is among a number of large infrastructure projects under the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that have helped boost the economy but also have provoked a backlash of public protest.(AP Photo)

Credit: The Associated Press

The Seymens, representing Ankara local militia who welcomed Mustafa Kemal Atuturk in Ankara in 1919 as Atuturk arrived to organize the the Independence war that led to the foundation of Turkish republic, march during the celebrations for the 90th anniversary of republic in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. A poster of Atuturk hangs from a building in the background.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Credit: The Associated Press

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second right, his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, fourth right, and other officials wait inside a train to cross the Bosporus after the inauguration of the tunnel called the Marmaray in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. Turkey is for the first time connecting its European and Asian sides with a railway tunnel set to open Tuesday, completing a plan initially proposed by an Ottoman sultan about 150 years ago. The Marmaray, is among a number of large infrastructure projects under the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that have helped boost the economy but also have provoked a backlash of public protest.(AP Photo)

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ISTANBUL — Turkey has opened an underwater railway tunnel linking Europe and Asia, and the two sides of Istanbul, realizing a plan initially proposed by an Ottoman sultan about 150 years ago.

The Marmaray tunnel runs under the Bosporus, the strait that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and divides Istanbul between Asia and Europe. The tunnel is 13.6 kilometers (8.5 miles) long, including an underwater stretch of 1.4 kilometers (4,593 feet).